Rob Rolle
in 2013

A starting tailback last season, Rolle has rushed for 11 touchdowns this year. He’s also thrown for three scores. He’s 10-of-26 for 228 yards this season.

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A quarterback is the leader of the offense, on and off the field, and with the position comes a lot of responsibility and pressure.

But few players are as uniquely equipped to handle being under center as Rob Rolle.

The quarterback for the Delsea Regional High School football team was the Crusaders’ starting tailback last year, and he played wide receiver as a sophomore. His intimate knowledge of so many offensive positions has helped shape him into a leading field general and major reason why Delsea is playing for its second straight Group III South title Saturday at 4 p.m. against Barnegat at Rowan University.

“The main thing with Robbie is he’s a very smart kid,” Delsea coach Sal Marchese said.

The smarts, along with the experience of being a senior, helped Rolle move from a featured running role into the position vacated by two-sport star Josh Awotunde, who now is competing in track and field at the University of South Carolina.

“I knew I was going to have to play quarterback early on, so it wasn’t a shock,” Rolle said. “But it definitely was a lot different preparing for this year. When you’re a running back or defensive player, you’re just another one of the guys. But now, being a quarterback and being more of a leader, everyone’s looking at me.”

Rolle certainly has the athleticism to do a lot on the field for the Crusaders, but he’s successful because he’s trusting his teammates and making the right decisions with the football.

“I think he’s just managing the offense,” Marchese said. “The big thing is the option game that we have. We run a lot of option and he’s gotta read correctly. And then when he does (keep the ball), he’s a threat to break it. He’s a fast kid, he’s a good runner, good with the ball in his hands.”

That comes from the fact that Rolle was the starting tailback last season. Of course, playing quarterback for Delsea typically means you’re not the one scoring all the touchdowns and racking up all the yards. For Rolle, that’s OK.

“When I play football, all the personal goals go out the window,” Rolle said. “My biggest thing is to help the team get the win and get another championship. It would be selfish of me to focus on personal goals and stats and yards. That’s not something anyone on our team does.”

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Instead of focusing on himself, Rolle thinks about what he can do for his teammates, even if it’s not with the football.

“I think overall, my role is to keep everyone focused and keep everyone’s head in the game, and just be that leader that every team needs,” Rolle said. “When big plays need to be made, I think I need to be the one to step in and make the plays. When the team is flustered or upset because of calls or bad plays, I need to be the one that steers everybody back on track.”

He also helps teach the offense he knows so well to everyone else on the team.

“Robbie’s just an all-around, versatile kid,” Marchese said. “In the beginning of the year, when the tailbacks had some questions and were unsure what they were doing, he knew what they were doing.”

That held especially true for Vineland transfer Isaiah Spencer, who had just the offseason to learn Delsea’s explosive read-option offense.

“He helped me a lot, especially when it came to the blocking,” Spencer said, adding fellow rusher Brendan Slade also pitched in. “Sometimes he’ll tell the wide receivers what routes to run, and the tight ends sometimes too. He knows the offense really well.”

And while he’s the signal caller on offense, Rolle’s true calling in the sport has proven to be on the other side of the ball. He already has verbally committed to play football for Villanova, where he is likely to be a defensive back. As excited as he is about playing on a larger stage, Rolle also demonstrated his maturity when asked what he’s looking forward to about the next level.

“I just want to graduate with a good degree and set myself up for later in life,” Rolle, who plans on being a pre-med major, said.

According to Marchese, the Wildcats’ football team will be getting an athlete who is just starting to tap his physical potential.

“The kid works hard, he’s very, very athletic,” Marchese said. “And I think he’s just growing into his body. He’s just a tall, gangly kid right now. Once he gets up there and on a strength and conditioning program all year and he’s eating at a training table ... he’s going to grow into a bigger, faster athlete.”

But the immediate future holds one more game in the red and white, and provides him one last opportunity to lead the offense he knows so well, hopefully, to a championship.

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